MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – The Valdosta State women's tennis team gave a hard-fought effort in a 4-3 loss at No. 49 Georgia College in the 2022 spring opener for both teams Tuesday afternoon.  
 
The match opened with GC'S duo of Ashton Morrison and Chiara Santoro winning 6-1 at No. 3 doubles over Blazer senior Hera Bjork Brynjarsdottir and sophomore Julia Saving.  The Lady Bobcats clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win at No. 2 by Sofia Shing and Jordan Bowie over freshmen tandem of Anastasiia Vorobiova and Elisa Beau, but Blazer freshmen duo of Natalie Kohoutkova and Magda Tuells Bonet downed GC's top duo of Emilia Richter and Emma Fleming, 7-6 in a 7-4 tie breaker.  
 
Kohoutkova continued her strong start with a 6-1, 6-1, upset of No. 44 Shing at No. 1 singles to tie the match at 1-1. GC regained the lead as Richter defeated Tuells Bonet, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 2, and Fleming won at No. 4 in three sets over Beau, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, for a 3-1 lead.  
 
The Lady Bobcats clinched the match at No. 6 singles as Shradha Chhabra downed Saving, 6-1, 6-3, but the Blazers continued to fight and came up with two victories at Nos. 5 and 3, respectively, to close the match.  Freshman Adriana Barrio won at No. 5 with a 7-6, 6-0, victory over Jordan Bowie and Vorobiova needed three sets to fend off Chiara Santoro, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4. 
 
VSU returns home to prepare for the 2022 home-opener, scheduled for Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. at the VSU Tennis Courts versus No. 18 North Georgia and then on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. versus No. 4 Nova Southeastern.